Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Huckabee, Mormonism, and Religion

When Mike Huckabee asked "Don't Mormons believe that Christ and Lucifer were brothers?" I thought he asked an honest question that anyone has the right to ask. Under fire in a society that no longer tolerates honest questions about religion, lest they be forced to face some honest answers, Mike Huckabee apologized.

I saw the corporate media banging on him again and again for daring to ask the question. None of them seemed to want to ask Mormon Stake President Romney or any other official of the Mormon church one simple question- Is that truly what your church believes?

The fact is, they do believe it. To be precise, they say, "On first hearing, the doctrine that Lucifer and our Lord, Jesus Christ, are brothers may seem surprising to some—especially to those unacquainted with latter-day revelations. But both the scriptures and the prophets affirm that Jesus Christ and Lucifer are indeed offspring of our Heavenly Father and, therefore, spirit brothers. Jesus Christ was with the Father from the beginning. Lucifer, too, was an angel “who was in authority in the presence of God,” a “son of the morning.” (See Isa. 14:12; D&C 76:25–27.) Both Jesus and Lucifer were strong leaders with great knowledge and influence. But as the Firstborn of the Father, Jesus was Lucifer’s older brother."

But maybe the point of outrage from the secular media wasn't whether or not Romney believes it, but rather that a person's religious beliefs should have any bearing in the matter of evaluating their fitness for public office. The secular media are just that, secular and radically so. They demand people compartmentalize their "religious life" from "real life" in a hermetically-sealed mental envelope. They are outraged at the thought that anything one claims to believe about God could effect anything that one claims to believe about government. Under that standard, religious beliefs, being irrelevant, should be left alone.

6 Comments:

The problem of course is that on some level of the mind our compartments connect. What we believe, and even if we believe about God effects our view of other things. And so it's relevant. If a candidate was a Moonie, or spent the last 20 years on the Alamo compound or with David Koresh, or even was a devote of the Aztec religion that demands human sacrifice, then maybe they are not the right ones to represent me. If a society is radically secular, then maybe I am not the right one to represent them.

Religious beliefs are a part of the total person, and are therefore relevant. No matter what anyone may say, not all religious beliefs are equally valid, reasonable, or moral. At the very least I want someone who believes that they will answer to a Higher Power over how they use their own power over me rather than a person who believes that this life is all their is.

I find it especially amusing that the Mormons are acting so huffy that an orthodox Christian would ask an honest question about their doctrine. The whole point of the Mormon faith was that the orthodox Christian churches were in apostasy yet some Mormons dare to get offended when we suggest that they are not orthodox Christians. There is bukoo evidence to suggest that Joseph Smith was a fraud, and therefore to question the judgment of anyone who is high up in an organization which regards him as God's greatest prophet.

In addition, Mormons believe that the God of the Bible is just one God among many. The God of this Earth, and not the Universe. They aspire to be "like God" and get their own planet someday.

When I examine myself, I feel strongly that I am not qualified to be "like God", nor even to "serve God", except by His grace. But I suppose that some types of personalities will be more drawn to religions where they can "be God" than they are to religions where the ultimate goal is to "serve God". Such personalities will be drawn to New Age beliefs and Mormonism. That is their right, but I find it overly ambitious. I choose not to use my vote to give the powers of a President to any man who desires the powers of God.

I am not suggesting a government religious test for office. That would not work and the very idea makes my skin crawl. But it is perfectly OK for the people themselves to have their own religious tests for office. In our system, the people are supposed to have many rights that the government does not have. It is called FREEDOM. Too bad we have to face a brigade of venomous name-callers when we try to exercise our freedom.

If we want our freedom, we are going to have to fight for it. We must confront the PC Police who want to shout us down, intimidate, name-call, and by so doing take away our right to disapprove of what we believe to be wrong.

Mark,Great piece. Truly the Morman religion puts the focus on US and OUR abition to be "god", as opposd to the true message of Jesus which is crucifing one's self & glorifing God.

I had to notice your reference to Alamo. I don't know how familiar you are with his group, but I am unfortunate enough to live in the town he now calls his home. We have been fighting them for several years, although when city officials are "bought off" it is more diffiCULT.

I am increasingly confused & frustrated at the media's unwillingness to portray him as he is & their persistance in calling his compounds a "ministry".

Do you have any insight or explanation on why the Government & the media refuse to touch him despite the allegations of child abuse, coercion, & polygamy?

I certainly hope that Mark Moore will not be joining in with the constant barrage of spoiled, hateful, and vitriolic little Republican establishment who believe it's fine to employ religion on behalf of the GOP if it makes Rovian magic, but not OK if any of the candidates really start taking its precepts seriously.

You see, you can lead all those conservative Christians to water, but you can't be sure they aren't going to tip over the bowl and make a huge mess of things for the rest of the party.

I am beginning to believe that Mark Moore has been right all along. We DO need to tip over some bowls and make a mess of a party.

I see several candidates wearing religion on their sleeves as a distraction. The serious candidates aren't pulling such stunts. They aren't busy hiding their records in office (like Huckabee is), but are instead asking voters to examine their records and speaking the truth no matter who disagrees.

The Dumond think is another issue I don't blame Huckabee for. Sure it is easy in hindsight to see that it was a terrible mistake, but at the time I remember (I was a political neophyte at the time) that many people thought he was some kind of victim of Clinton corruption.

There is enough there that disqualifies Huckabee without reaching for the Dumond thing IMHO.